Only Hope Cat Rescue, Inc.

a tax exempt 501(c)3 non-profit organization serving NYC & NJ

Company Profile

Our Mission

Our mission is based on one fact. Animals feel. They feel joy, love, worry, fear, pain, mourning, hunger, warm, cold and more. They love to lay on your heater in the sun on a cold winter day. They love to greet you when you come home from a long day at work. They seek your comfort when they are tired, lonely or scared. They are grateful when you recognize their feelings and come to their rescue. Our mission is to grant these animals the lives of comfort, love and safety that they want and deserve, by placing them into lifetime homes.

What We Do

Only Hope Cat Rescue, Inc. does not have a "brick and mortar" shelter. We work strictly through our foster homes. When we take cats in, they live in our foster care until we find them permanent homes. Caring for these cats includes not just food and litter, but also medications, supplements, vet bills for spay/neuters, vaccinations, parasite infestations, and any other health conditions that may exist when we find the cats. Only Hope Cat Rescue, Inc. has taken in cats that needed mouth surgery, biopsies; cats that were paralyzed, that have cancer, diabetes, cystitis, and cats that need to take a pill every day for the rest of their lives. We work to socialize feral or abused cats so that they learn to trust humans. We feed feral and stray colonies, and even do Trap/Neuter/Return programs. We provide our animals with the highest quality premium, all natural foods (commercially available, not raw); toys, treats, cat beds and scratching posts (and training!).

How We Started

Only Hope was founded by two extraordinary women in March of 2001. Each of them had been rescuing cats and kittens since they were little girls. While on vacation, one of the women read a local newspaper story about a shelter that was going to gas 30 cats and kittens. So she rented a moving van and drove all 30 up to her studio apartment in Manhattan. That first group of cats went to friends, and friends of friends. They had such success that they drove up a second truckload, but the friend-network was drying up. They began to partner with other rescue groups for help, and they learned a lot in the process. They soon decided to branch off on their own, and officially formed Only Hope. Ever since then, they have built up a network of rescuers, adopters, foster homes, and stores that all work for a common cause; helping our feline friends! Now, Only Hope Cat Rescue, Inc. works by providing foster care, application processing, home visits, cat delivery, and follow up visits. We work with Pet Town in Manhattan, where we are able to show cats at our weekly adoption events; and The Animal Health Center, our veterinarian who helps us care for our rescues. We also work closely with several other rescue groups and adoption centers, to help place cats for them. The cats we find are from all over - backyards, the streets, deli's, grocery stores, neglectful homes, and even the FDR!